


Hit and Miss

by Kittyluv2000



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Altean Lance (Voltron), Assassin Lance, Bisexual Lance (Voltron), Crossdressing, Druid Lance, Female Pronouns for Pidge | Katie Holt, M/M, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Paladin Matt, klance
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-12-13
Updated: 2019-02-12
Packaged: 2019-02-14 05:23:59
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 11
Words: 16,562
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13000764
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kittyluv2000/pseuds/Kittyluv2000
Summary: The Paladins of Voltron have been active for almost a month now, and they've already made themselves a few enemies - including some masquerading as friends. So what happens when a few inexperienced humans are pitted against the intergalactic hitman sent to kill them? Apparently, a whole lot of confusion and more missing than hitting.





	1. A Chance Encounter

Pidge stares listlessly at the wall opposite her, bored out of her mind and praying that the meeting she's currently in will just  _ end  _ already. She loves forming alliances as much as the next guy (who happens to be Keith, who is focusing a glare on the rambling leader of this small, nomadic alien civilization - just as impatient to leave as Pidge), but good  _ god,  _ this dude is stupid. He just won't accept  _ any _ of the proffered terms of the alliance. Pidge shifts her gaze to stare at Allura’s reddening face, counting down silently:  _ Three, two, one…  _ Then, Allura snaps, letting out a loud, fed-up “Ugh!” and Pidge perks up to watch. Something interesting, _ finally!  _

“Do you even understand what I am  _ saying?!  _ That is the only option I can think of as to why you are being so stubborn!” Allura cries, gesturing wildly as even her princess training (or whatever she got to teach her how to be a diplomat) fails to keep her annoyance under control. The representative shakes his head, and Pidge frowns. She gets up to take a look at the machine, quickly identifying the issue and fixing it. The damn thing wasn't even plugged in - and the leader hadn't understood a word of negotiation up to this point. Allura sputters incredulously, and as Pidge sits back down with a smug smirk, she groans and rubs her face vigorously before starting negotiations all over again. 

The meeting finishes quickly once the language barrier is out of the way, and the Paladins (plus Princess) are released to relax and explore the base. While Keith is roped into going with Shiro to be a friendly ally and chat with the aliens, Pidge strikes up a conversation with one of the engineers who work on the engine. Hunk is adopted by a group of alien children to take an immediate liking to him and coerce him into playing with them. (It doesn't take much.) Allura eventually joins Shiro and Keith, giving Keith the opportunity to escape and seek out the kitchens instead. He's been itching to eat _anything_ other than green food goo. Whatever they have here can even taste _worse_ for all he cares - he's just _sick_ and _tired_ of the food goo’s mushy consistency. 

Pidge is bending over to inspect a bundle of large wires which lead to the energy core of the giant colony ship when something breaks in the engine. There is a spray of sparks from a metal blade, and the fan it's attached to grinds to a screeching halt. Pidge jumps back at first, but once it's clear that there's no fire hazard, she creeps closer to inspect to fan as workers scamper all around in blatant panic. Pidge can't understand what they're saying - they've reverted to their native language in their haste - but she does notice that they seem to have sent a few of the workers off to fetch someone or something. Pidge looks closer at the blade, noting a curve in the metal near the base that she assumes is from stress, and a divot in the blade where something seems to have struck it and pushed the material past its breaking point. Now, the piece of metal that snapped off is caught in the rest of the blades, keeping it from turning and blowing hot air out of the engine. Pidge turns around to yell at the aliens to turn off the engine before it overheats, but someone beats her to it. With much better skill in their language than Pidge could have mustered, a male voice calls out instructions, and the aliens quickly get to shutting down all the power. Pidge searches the room for the man who spoke, finding him quickly as his tall figure towers over the rather short aliens. Shoving her way over, Pidge catches a glimpse of his face, and - suddenly she can't breathe right. Fumbling to take her helmet off, Pidge taps his arm and gasps, 

“Matt?”

And he turns around with a hopeful yet confused, 

“Katie?” and Pidge can't help it - she's crying harder than she has in a long time. 


	2. A Miraculous Escape

It's about a week before the Paladins get to leave the nomads behind. Matt is determined to fix all the things he said he would before departing, and Pidge and Shiro refuse to leave without him, so they all have to wait until he finishes up. Not that anyone is complaining - this means they don't have to fight anyone, and the relaxation and socializing is a great change of pace from attempting to form Voltron. As Hunk puts it: Allura is a great princess, but she's not quite a Paladin yet. Looks like the innate ability to fly giant lions doesn't transfer to you if you're just a temporary pilot like Allura is for Blue. Matt is jarred by the Lions, and appalled at first by the burden Pidge has accepted. He pretty quickly stops protesting when both Shiro and Pidge take the same side on the matter - Matt’s still a teenager too, and he's been doing more dangerous stuff than flying a giant lion around in the relative safety of the cockpit. He matter is further proven when Blue takes a liking to Matt and stops opening up for Allura, instead making Matt fall on his butt when he tries to lean against her particle barrier like he had been the past couple days while chatting (flirting) with Allura. He gets barely a day to acclimate to life as a Paladin - or learn how to even  _ be  _ one - before they receive a distress call from their most recent allies. Not only are they under threat of a Galra attack, but their leader has been murdered sometime during the night, and their colony is in chaos. Allura opens a wormhole to the ship, and the Paladins get moving to eradicate the Galra threat before they deal with any more specific colonial matters. 

They have no need to form Voltron this time, and it's a good thing too, because Matt hasn't quite got the hang of Blue, and he spirals off uncontrollably a couple times as he overcompensates some thruster, or pushes the steering controls too far. While the other Paladins have had months to perfect their flying, Matt is sorely lacking in preparation for this battle. 

Exhausted after the fight, all five slightly disheveled Paladins meet with the newly promoted leader of the colony, their Lions parked together in the ship’s biggest cargo bay. 

“What exactly happened?” Shiro manages to ask after calming them down. They explain via the selfsame translator that Pidge ‘fixed’ that their leader was found dead - poisoned and passed away in his own bed - that very morning. 

“The last place we landed where we could have been boarded was a week ago! Either this was committed by one of us,” They shiver in horror, and then continue in a hushed tone. “Or someone has been stowed away for a  _ week _ !” Pidge frowns. 

“It's a lot more likely that this was an act of treason from one of yours.”

“Yeah, it'd be pretty hard for anyone not of your species to hide out for a week on one ship without being noticed.” Matt adds on, on the exact same train of thought as Pidge. Shiro shakes his head slightly, amused by how in sync these two are. The leader nods, hands twisting anxiously as their eyes dart from side to side in nervousness. 

“That is true, but we also found the needle used to administer the poison next to his bed. If the assassin was one of our own, we could identify the marks left on the needle. But they are completely foreign.” They explain this quickly, and the Paladins exchange significant looks before Shiro speaks up again. 

“We'll do a thorough investigation of your ship. They can't have left yet - wait, no shuttles have left correct?” The leader confirms that no shuttles or ships have left their colony since the murder, and Shiro dispatches everyone to investigate a section of the ship. 

Pidge scans the vents with Hunk to help her, and they find no traces of life in there. 

“Vents are clear,” she reports to Shiro, who is searching the cargo bays and docking ports. She then continues on to explore the hallways of her and Hunk’s sector, keeping a screen with a map up to guide her as well as perform continuous sweeps of the ventilation system. 

Matt is with the leader, who is amazed by his quick ascent from janitor of sorts to Paladin of Voltron. He's got his bayard out, staff at the ready to defend himself and his companion should they be attacked by the murderer. The halls are eerily empty, all the citizens being in lockdown to facilitate the search. Chatting quietly with the leader, Matt keeps a sharp eye out for anything suspicious - but finds nothing the entire time. 

Keith and Shiro are in charge of the docking and cargo bays, Keith with his sword at the ready while Shiro keeps in touch with everyone across the ship. Peering around with a concentrated, rather angry-looking expression, Keith is getting increasingly annoyed by the lack of action. 

“How the hell are they  _ hiding?  _ It's a  _ ship  _ in the  _ middle of space!”  _ Shiro placates him with some generic reassurances and his favourite catchphrase. “Patience yields focus, Keith.” Keith repeats mockingly under his breath, unimpressed. 

.oOo.

Shiro is the first to see anything of interest, spying an open door that really  _ shouldn't  _ be open considering the lockdown that's in effect. 

“Guys, we found something. North cargo bay, there's an open door. Any good reason for that, Matt?” Matt replies with a negative after consulting with the leader, and Shiro and Keith sneak forwards slowly to check it out. And as soon as Shiro takes one cautious step in, everything goes to shit. A hand shoots from the darkness next to the doorway, knocking Shiro in the forehead and sending him stumbling back with a curse and a silent thanks to his helmet. He'd be in much less _coherent_ of a state if the visor hadn't mitigated a lot of the force behind that blow. As Shiro collects his thoughts and sets his Galra hand to its battle function, Keith dashes in to fight the person within the room. They're in form-fitting ‘armour’, that being a set of arm guards, matching thigh-high boots - with _heels_ on them, what the _hell_ \-  and a crop top plus some _short_ -ass shorts topped with two different belts full of various pouches. They're also wearing a helmet with a highly tinted visor, and a few different sheaths strapped to their thighs, arms, and back for weapons such as two daggers, a couple guns on their back, and a miniature gun of some sort. All of this is black and grey with blue trim, and Keith has difficulty making it all out in the dark - especially mid-fight. Keith is thankful for the close quarters, as this person is restrained to their daggers and fists and not the guns, which Shiro and Keith would have a difficult time fighting against. Once Shiro joins him, Keith has a pretty easy time of overpowering the mystery assassin and getting them on the defensive, although he still can't manage to hit them. As Shiro _almost_ lands a hit with his glowing, weaponized hand, the person hisses out something that could be a swear and leaps _up,_ flipping nimbly over both of their heads and dashing out the door into the hallway. 

“They're escaping! Hurry up and get over here!” Keith growls into his comm, getting a chorus of affirmations from his teammates. He chases the person with Shiro close behind him, following the sound of clacking - yup, those are  _ definitely  _ heels, how the  _ fuck  _ \- boots on the hard floors. The figure skids into the next door, one leading into an empty docking bay. 

“Hah! Got you!” Keith cheers, knowing there's no other way out than the door he's now blocking. The person hesitates on the far side of the room for a moment, and then leaps sideways, catching Keith off guard as their gloved hand slams into a keypad located on the wall there. A robotic voice comes on, echoing as it states, 

**_Bay door opening requested. Please input password._ ** Keith charges forwards, sure that they're trapped now that they've no possible means of escape. But as he starts running, they grab a gun from their back, and Shiro snags Keith's arm and pulls him back. He grabs the door frame just in time as the control panel is shot into a smoldering, melted mess and the bay doors open, alarms and red lights blaring at the malfunction. Keith swears as the figure is sucked out, gun snapping back into place on their back as they give what is undeniably a middle finger to the Paladins. The error is quickly fixed and the huge doors close against the void of space, leaving Keith and Shiro on the floor. Everyone else arrives seconds later, by which point Keith has punched a wall, and Shiro is trying to calm him down. He explains what happened (with Keith interjecting the occasional bitter remarks) and the leader accepts it stoically, even though it's clear that they're still worried and unhappy with the outcome. It's Hunk who snaps everyone out of it when he comments, 

“Uh, guys? If they ejected themselves into space, I don't think they could've gotten too far yet, even if they do somehow have a spacecraft.” Pidge gasps. 

“Shit, you're right!” Keith perks up, and he takes off running with a call of,

“Let's  _ go!”  _

.oOo.

The person seems unsurprised when the Lions surround him, huge mechanical beasts with slowly waving tails forming a barricade around their tiny, floating figure. They'd made it fairly far with a small, sleek jetpack Keith hadn't noticed before, but still nowhere nearly far enough to escape recapture. As the Paladins hover, deciding who will take on the assassin, the figure seems to be holding something up, a glowing rectangle that flashes brighter every few seconds. 

“Are they taking  _ pictures?”  _ Matt asks, sounding confused. Pidge responds with an equally bemused tone. 

“Yeah. Probably a fan of the robots. They'll be getting a  _ great  _ up-close and personal view of ‘em soon, though.” It's then that something interferes with their communications, and after a burst of loud static, an unfamiliar male voice speaks up. 

“Thanks for the cool pictures guys. And sorry to disappoint, but I've got an appointment soon. Bye-bye!” As confused chatter breaks out between the Paladins, Pidge trying to find out how their comms were hacked, the small form inside the ring of Lions performs a jaunty salute and pulls a tiny device from a pouch on their belt. There's a bright flash of light as it activates, and when the glare clears from everyone’s eyes, the supposedly trapped stranger is gone without a trace. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am LOVING Lance in this one! He's gonna be badass, and sexy, and sassy, and flirty...he's gonna be all the good things rolled into one lovable little package! Keith, you lucky duck...


	3. A Warning

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Shiro and the team find themselves making another alliance...and a mysterious alien pays Shiro a visit.

As soon as Lance feels solid ground under his feet, and the glare from the wormhole fades from his vision, nausea strikes him and he has just barely enough time to wrench his helmet off his head before he's retching onto the ground. Nothing much comes up though, and he collects his thoughts and sits back to calm down for a moment. 

“Holy _quiznak,_ that was close.” He's not talking to anyone, not that there's anyone other than him in the room right now. But after such a harrowing escape - wherein he had to use one of his _major_ tricks, the portable wormhole generator - he feels like he's gotta talk to _someone,_ even if that someone is…no one. Lance pulls his touchscreen out, flipping through the photos he’s taken. That's one upside of his failure to get out in time: he got some _insane_ photos of the Lions of Voltron. Lance peers a little closer and zooms in, wondering if he can see the Paladins through the eyes of the lions, but there’s nothing there. Lance tosses his screen aside, letting it bounce on his bed before he joins it, stripping off his boots and wrist guards before flopping down bonelessly. He chuckles as he eyes his boots. That Red Paladin had seemed pretty fixated on them. While Lance had hesitated in the middle of that hangar, the Paladin’s eyes had flicked constantly between his face and his feet. Lance might have also caught a glance at his chest, which is even more hilarious. He was _so_ confused about Lance’s gender. That or he was checking Lance out - unlikely, considering how hard he tried to _kill_ him. Lance’s mind flicks back to ejecting himself from the hangar, and he shudders as he thanks whatever god favours him for the thin undersuit he'd had the foresight to wear. Otherwise, launching himself into the void would've just been killing himself like a little gift for the Paladins. 

Lance grabs his screen again, choosing a contact from the  _ very _ short list and holding the device to his ear. The recipient answers shortly, a shifty tone clear in their voice as they murmur,

“Yes?” Lance gets up and double-checks his door to be sure that it’s locked as he responds,

“It’s your tailor. I finished your order.” They hum contentedly, audibly ushering other people out of whatever room they’re in.

“Good. I’ll pay you right away. Did you get caught?” Lance grimaces, and his hesitancy to answer says everything. “Do they know who sent you?” Lance growls.

“Of course not! They didn’t  _ catch  _ me, I just got chased.” They respond with unimpressed silence, and Lance holds himself back from saying anything further, instead stating,

“I expect my payment within a week. You know where to send it. I’m deleting your contact - don’t contact me any further unless you have another request.” The client agrees, and Lance hangs up.

The second half of his payment arrives to one of his bank accounts the next day.

.oOo.

“Who  _ was  _ that?! And why would they murder just  _ that leader?! _ They could have taken out the next in line, too, but they  _ didn’t _ .” Pidge frowns deeper, pacing in agitation across the common room in the castle. No one has an answer, and she slumps back onto a couch next to Matt, who ruffles her hair fondly. He then tries to steal her glasses, and she dodges with a smirk before getting serious again.

“Oh, come  _ on _ , Katie! They’re  _ my glasses!”  _ he protests, trying and failing to snatch them up for what must be at least the fiftieth time. Pidge shrugs.

“Oh, well. I look  _ great  _ in them, and you’re not getting them back. And my name’s  _ Pidge  _ now.” Matt sputters incredulously, groaning and letting his head fall backwards.

“You  _ said _ I could call you Katie,  _ Pidge.  _ Also, why  _ Pidge?  _ What even  _ is  _ a Pidge?!” Pidge just smirks wider. Then, her face falls as she starts overthinking the mysterious assassin again. Matt sighs as he sees that his attempt to lighten her mood has failed. 

The matter of the assassin is left behind for the moment as Allura proposes another diplomatic mission - another potential ally they are to visit. This race, on a planet called ‘Surgere’, is a thus-far neutral party, selling supplies to whomever they wish. They're good at combat, and have fought off all Galra attempts to take over their planet, so Allura figures they would be a valuable asset - both for firepower and supplies. That is,  _ if  _ the Paladins can succeed in gaining their trust. Besides being a formidable race, they're also known for their stubbornness and solidarity. 

.oOo.

Lance smirks at his tablet, amused at how  _ easy  _ it is to track down Voltron. They're totally conspicuous, everybody knows who they are, and wherever they go, someone is  _ sure  _ to pull out a device and film them. So tracking down where they are currently and where they'll be next is a piece of cake. Lance picks a contact out of his list once he's tired of watching a particularly excited Voltron fan ramble about how they're coming to her planet, and arranges his features into a composed, serious expression while it rings. When the recipient picks up, Lance almost laughs at how  _ annoyed  _ he looks. 

“What do you want now, Lance?” Lance tilts his head to the side. 

“What do I  _ always  _ want, Kolivan?” Kolivan is just as silent as always, and Lance sighs. “I'm in the Soeria belt. Can one of you pick me up? I need a quick lift to Surgere.” Kolivan stares stonily at Lance for a few moments, prompting him to start tapping his foot (partially impatience, partially a nervous tic). Then, facial expression ever unchanging, Kolivan grunts an affirmative. 

“Fine. While we travel there, you'll train new recruits.” Lance nods, sends his exact coordinates, and then Kolivan hangs up abruptly. Lance relaxes immediately, sighing as he slouches out of his straight-backed posture. Kolivan is freaking  _ scary  _ when he wants to be _.  _ He packs what little stuff he has, and then pulls a mask up over his mouth and nose before heading outside to wait. The mask covers up the little markings on his face, and makes him look mysterious - which he likes. Back in his full set of work clothes, Lance drums his fingers on his arm as he stands with his hands behind his back impatiently. The Blade should come soon, since they have the oh-so-handy tool of a teludav to teleport with. When the ship appears, resembling a Galran ship in all but the uniforms of those onboard, Lance pulls himself up into the expected businesslike posture he hates so much. Standing up straight is  _ work _ , and unless he’s getting paid for it, Lance doesn’t especially want to work. He greets and thanks Kolivan as he’s let onto the ship, keeping his balance expertly as it takes off. Then, he’s led to the training room to make up for the newest favour he’s mooched from the Blade. 

.oOo.

Lance chugs some water as he takes a quick break, rubbing his sore knee. It’s sore because he kneed a recruit in the face - and said recruit was wearing a helmet. The manoeuvre still disoriented the poor Galra long enough for Lance to put a gun against his head, but it was at the expense of Lance’s knee. One of the older members of the Blade approaches Lance - shit, he has  _ no idea  _ what this dude’s name is - and sits down next to him on the bench.

“Thank you for helping them train.” Lance nods, shrugging as he sets his water pouch next to his helmet on the floor between his feet. 

“It’s honesty the easiest way to bay you guys back for letting me hitch a ride every now and again.” The Galra nods, yellow eyes flicking to the group of newbies who are on the other side of the room nursing their wounds.

“Why are you going to Surgere? They hate you there, do they not? And I doubt the Paladins will be happy if they catch you following them.” Lance gives the Blade a sidelong glance, gauging his level of interest to see if he can brush the question off. The Galra is staring at him intently now, and Lance decides that he’ll just tell the truth.

“I’ll be doing my best to stay out of sight. I got a call from a certain Empire ally who wants me to take out the Paladins - I won’t, obviously, but I’ll make it look like I’m at least  _ trying _ so I get the first half of my payment. Then I can ditch with the money, maybe give them a warning to be on their guard…” He grins at the Galra next to him, who looks both surprised and unimpressed. That’s fine. Not everyone agrees with Lance’s illicit behaviours. He looks away, and then gets up. Lance takes that as a sign to get back to training, and he calls over the new recruits. “Alright! How about some shooting practice?” He has to hold back a laugh as the trainees stare at him - they look  _ terrified _ .

.oOo.

Pidge groans from where she’s facedown on the bed provided to her by the Surgerians. Negotiations went  _ badly _ . Allura got fed up, Shiro was so tired he couldn’t participate much, and Keith the Hothead got pissed off by the leader’s stubbornness (kinda ironic, that) and stalked off to his room. Matt chuckles from the other side of the room, amused by how awfully everything went. He didn’t have much say in the talking, and neither did Pidge or Hunk. So the blame’s not on them, and in hindsight, the way it went is a hilarious snowballing of everyone being stubborn and grouchy and no one being very good at negotiating. Pidge sits up and folds her legs into a cross-legged position. Elbow on her knee and chin in her hand, she stares at Matt and wonders aloud where the mysterious assassin is at the moment. Matt shrugs and doesn't seem all that concerned that the dangerous fugitive is still on the loose somewhere out there. Pidge pulls out her phone and analyzes the voice sample she'd gotten when the unknown person hacked into their comms. The voice sounds like a male, but there's no distinguishing features to it. It's average pitch, not accented, or gravelly, or  _ anything  _ that Pidge could use to identify it. It's infuriating, but Pidge isn't one to just give up. 

While Pidge and Matt are in their room, Shiro and Allura have decided to go for a calming walk together. Keith is off somewhere, presumably training as is his favourite hobby, and Hunk has made some friends to chat with. So it's just Allura and Shiro taking a walk through the open market on the street outside their accommodations. Allura is fascinated by all the sparkly jewelry and handmade trinkets. Shiro is keeping an eye out for more useful everyday stuff. Things like, say, spices to liven up the food goo, or some sort of lotion, since the castle has none left anywhere in it. As Shiro finds a promising-looking booth, an alien wearing a cloth over their mouth and nose wanders up next to him. They speak, and Shiro corrects himself. This alien is a ‘he’. 

“What are you looking for? You seem confused.” Shiro examines the alien with a sidelong glance, taking in his pointed ears and almost-white hair. It's messy and a very light blue that Shiro wouldn't have realized was blue if Allura’s pure white hair wasn't so close by as a reference. The alien looks at Shiro, eyebrows raised. “Well? Are you going to answer?” Shiro apologizes quickly and explains that he's looking for some sort of moisturizer. Pointed ears perking up, Shiro’s new guide starts chatting amicably about which products are best. He chooses a couple bottles and hands them to Shiro, who takes them and tests them somewhat skeptically before buying them. The alien pats his arm and offers what looks like a smile (Shiro can't really tell, since there's cloth over his mouth) before giving him an odd look with piercing blue eyes. “Be careful, will you? You and your team may seem well-accepted by everyone, but there are those who want you gone. All of you should watch your backs.” With that rather cryptic warning, he disappears into the crowd, and despite his shock of off-white hair, Shiro can't find him again. He turns to Allura to see what she thinks, and she just frowns and drags him back to his sleeping quarters, no longer feeling safe out in the streets. 

.oOo.

Lance watches the Black Paladin and the Princess as they return to the rooms given to them. He's perched on a rooftop, where he'd gone while the Paladin searched for him in the crowd. It was really  _ too _ easy to slip between stalls and climb up as the Black Paladin’s attention was focused on the myriad of people shopping at the market. The princess was looking entirely the wrong way, too. Lance stands up and walks away, hands behind his head uncaringly as he passes up a perfectly good opportunity to do his job and finds a room to rent instead. 

Shiro makes it very clear to the Paladins that they're to stay with at least one teammate at all times. Maybe he's being paranoid, but he'd rather err on the side of caution, and listen to some random alien, than leave the fate of his team up to chance, and risk them getting hurt. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I...honestly had no idea that I had another chapter written. I was hurrying to finish chapter four...and then I realized I never posted chapter three! So, here you go, my lovely readers! Sorry I was on hiatus for so long!


	4. An Unexpected Visitor

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Shiro and Keith get a surprise visit from someone in the dead of night...it's less fun than it sounds.

After some more talking with their hosts, which is a lot more fruitful once everyone has calmed down and gotten some food in them, the Paladins head back to their respective rooms to get some rest. The rest of their negotiating will happen tomorrow, when everything has settled down a bit and the accommodations and whatnot are all figured out.

Keith is sharing a room with Shiro, Hunk and Matt together so that Allura and Pidge share a room. The inhabitants of this planet were very adamant that girls and boys should _not_ share a room unless they're a couple. (Matt made some choice jokes about couples not necessarily being a girl and a boy.) Shiro imposes a curfew, and still wants everyone to be with another team member at all times, which annoyed everyone. No one protested much though, since it's honestly a pretty good rule while on a foreign planet with aliens they haven't succeeded in securing an alliance with yet. So come nighttime, as the light starts to fade, all the Paladins are in their given rooms, trying to sleep since there's not much else to do. Keith is still hung up on that mystery assassin they failed to catch, angry that they didn't even manage to get a good look at him. He wants to be doing something, using this time to train or get information on any of the things they're still trying to figure out. But no, he's stuck with Shiro in this little shack thing, fighting insomnia instead of droids and mulling over past mistakes instead of new information. It's frustrating, and the more he thinks about it, the further away from sleep he gets. Therefore, when there's a suspicious shuffling noise outside of the window, he's wide awake, immediately listening hard and trying to regulate his breathing to make it seem like he's asleep. If he isn't an open threat, whoever's outside won't be as cautious with whatever they're doing. Keith closes his eyes, heart thundering in his ears as the latch on the window rattles quietly. It clicks, and the window slides up almost noiselessly, someone slipping through and landing with a very soft thump on the floor. Keith cracks his eyes open, his eyelashes obscuring his vision a bit but also making it look like his eyes are still closed. As the intruder - who is nothing but a dark silhouette in the inky blackness of this hut - sneaks lightly over to Shiro’s bed, Keith slowly slips a hand under his pillow. He grasps the hilt of the blade he stowed there, just in case of a situation such as this. He waits until the intruder is facing away from him, and then leaps out of bed, tackling the silhouette and bowling them over. Well, he _tries_ to do so, except by the time he makes it across the room, the figure has moved, and a tight grip on his wrist twists his arm behind his back, forcing his knife from his hand and sending it clattering away under Keith's bed. Keith curses, calling for Shiro and struggling, managing to free his hand before fighting back with a vengeance. Shiro stirs as Keith and the stranger grapple, Keith being stronger than the intruder, but the intruder being _weirdly_ flexible. They keep wriggling away from every hold Keith gets them in.

Shiro wakes up after a minute or two, immediately going on the offensive when he sees Keith and the intruder fighting. His prosthetic arm lights up, and the person Keith is fighting with seems stunned for a moment as they stare, the violet glow reflecting in their eyes. That moment of shock is enough for Keith to take advantage of, and he finally pins the stranger down securely. They struggle, but quickly realize that that's futile, so they stop and go limp instead. Shiro turns on the light once Keith says that he's got the intruder pinned, and the person winces at the bright light. They blink, narrowing their eyes against the light but getting used to the change quickly. Shiro growls as he recognizes the person, remembering that outfit - especially the cloth obscuring most of their face - as well as the messy, pale blue hair.

“ _You!”_ he snarls accusingly. “What the _hell_ are you doing here?!” The stranger looks up at Shiro, recognition in his eyes as well. He says nothing, though, and instead drops his head back down to the floor with a sigh, pressing his cheek against the ground and staying put. That pisses Keith off, and he presses harder on his captive's pinned arm, making them yelp as their shoulder does something it's not really supposed to. It _can_ , because he's flexible that way, but it's still a very uncomfortable position to be in.

“ _Answer him!_ What the fuck do you want? Why are you here?” Keith growls, getting a baleful sidelong glare from the person under him.

“Maybe I'll tell you if you quit trying to rip my arm out of its socket and simultaneously crush me.” he replies petulantly, and Keith scoffs.

“Like hell I'll ever do that.” The intruder shrugs as best he can, and then falls silent, closing his eyes and going limp again.

“Alrighty, then. Your choice.” he says flippantly, seeming completely unperturbed by the situation he's in. That attitude is suspicious to Keith, so he tells Shiro to get him his bayard. Once he has it, and it's activated, Keith sets the edge of the blade against the back of the captive's neck.

“If you try to get away, I _will_ stab you.” he threatens seriously, and the intruder rolls his eyes.

“Oh, I'm sure you will. Which is why I am _not_ gonna try to escape. Meaning that _you_ can let me up now, please. I'm not gonna run, but my arm _is_ gonna start hurting like a _bitch_ soon.” Keith glares at him, but Shiro surprises him by telling him to let the intruder go.

“I'll make sure he doesn't go anywhere. We need him to talk, so we should comply for now.” Keith sputters, incredulous and furious, but Shiro is adamant. He grabs the intruder's arm so he won't be able to escape, and Keith grudgingly gets off of him. He doesn't deactivate his bayard, though, keeping the sword out so their ‘guest’ doesn’t get any ideas. The intruder stands up, raising his hands beside his head in an expression of surrender.

“Okay, okay. Chill. I’m happy now that I’m not being squashed, so I’ll talk if you ask questions...provided they’re not too personal.” Keith hisses that he _will_ answer their questions, _all_ of them, whether he likes it or not, and Shiro agrees sternly. The captive twists his arm around a bit in Shiro’s grip and says nothing, looking like he really disagrees with that statement. He yelps as Keith swipes at the mask covering the lower half of his face, ducking the attempt and glaring at Keith. “Ohoho, _you_ are getting on my nerves, Red.” Keith makes another attempt, and the man looks offended. “Hey! Quit trying to take my mask off, you jerk! I have it on for a _reason!”_ Keith mutters that he doesn’t _give_ a shit if the _criminal_ has a reason, and said criminal scoffs. “Excuse you! I came here to _warn_ you guys, so you need to be nicer. I am here to _help_...and maybe get some more stuff from the market, too. That’d be nice. This kind of beauty doesn’t come naturally.” Keith is about to snatch that mask off anyways, but Shiro snaps at both of them to shut up. He addresses the intruder, asking him sternly what he meant when he said he was here to warn them.

“What exactly are you warning us _about?_ And why would you break in here in the middle of the night instead of just telling me earlier in the market?” The masked stranger shrugs.   
“It wasn’t safe to tell you in the market. Who _knows_ who could have been listening in on that conversation. Plus, I have to at least _pretend_ to be doing my job. After all, I was supposed to come here and, uh…‘get rid of’ you guys, but I decided to spare you instead. I think that was quite ni-” He lets out a small shriek as Keith’s sword suddenly jabs at his throat, pricking at the thin skin and just barely avoiding drawing blood.   
“ _Get rid of us?!”_ Keith growls, furious and just about ready to stab this guy. Shiro looks mad too, and the confidence drains from the intruder’s eyes.   
“Uhhhh...yeah? _Pleasedon’tstabmeIswearI’dneveractuallydoit!”_ he yelps, stumbling over his words in his haste to get them out. Keith doesn’t listen, raising his sword - and then whacking the intruder over the head with the hilt. Shiro is left holding up the limp body of the intruder by the arm, and he tells Keith to go get the rest of the team.   
“Bring some handcuffs back, too. We’re not done with him yet.” Keith nods, dashing off to wake up and gather the rest of Voltron. He _really_ hopes this overly chipper assassin was working alone.

.oOo.

    Lance wakes up with a _killer_ headache, groaning and trying to hold his head where it hurts the worst. But his hands are cuffed behind his back, cold metal keeping them right where they are. Opening his eyes, Lance glances around at the paladins, who have all gathered around him as he wakes up. _Oh,_ great _. All them, and each one angry at me._ Lance offers up a smile, relieved to feel the fabric of his mask brushing over his lips. That means his identity is still mostly a secret. His gaze flicks over to the Red Paladin, and he gives him an unimpressed look. He's not going to forget how mean it was to threaten him with a sword and then whack him over the head with its hilt, but he's nice, so he'll still warn him like he originally planned to.

Lance is snapped from his thoughts as the smallest Paladin snaps her fingers, looking annoyed as she demands his attention impolitely.

“Hey, you. Why the fuck did you break into their house, and who the hell are you?” The Black Paladin nudges the Green one, seemingly unimpressed with her foul language. Lance chuckles at that, and all of the paladins level equally unamused glares at him. Lance backtracks, muttering that they're all so _serious_.

“Okay, okay! Fine! I broke into their hut ‘cause I wanted to warn them about the bad guys who want all of your heads. I assumed that the Black Paladin would be the best one to warn, since he's the leader of your team. My true name, I can't give you, but if you must call me something, just call me ‘Sharpshooter’. That's what everyone else calls me. I'm an assassin, or a hit man, whichever you prefer. Either way, you're all lucky I'm on your side, because these cuffs are only holding me because I have no intention of escaping yet.” The Green Paladin grumbles softly, moving behind him and fiddling with the handcuffs. Lance sighs, knowing that she's definitely increasing the security on him now. He should _really_ learn how to keep his fat mouth shut. Lance decides to ignore the Paladin behind him, addressing the rest of them seriously. “All of you have huge targets on your backs. You may be beloved by most of the universe, but the fact stands that there are still _plenty_ of people who want you dead. And I don't just mean the Galra Empire. There are other aliens, other planets, with strong influences and a desire to see you all killed. You're lucky that the hitman one of those powerful aliens hired is on your side, else you wouldn't even have made it to this planet.” There's a shocked silence after his words, but the Red Paladin snaps out of it first.

“And why the fuck should we trust you?! Not only did you already murder the leader of that colony whose ship you were on, but you broke into one of our cabins! You weren't going to wake us up, so don't even try to tell me that.” Lance sighs.

“True, I _did_ kill that leader. You don't know half the story, though. Sure, he was nice to you and all, but I was hired to kill him so the heir to the position could rise up, since that old leader was running his people into the ground. He was corrupt and vile, as hard as it is to believe. I wouldn't have killed him if he was good. He'd have just…disappeared, instead. Off to start a new life somewhere he wouldn't be found.” He opens his mouth to continue and insist that he _was_ , in fact, going to wake the Paladins up, but the Paladins’ helmets interrupt him by blaring a loud alarm. The Princess gasps, stating that there's been an attack on the Castle, and they need to go defend it. They all race off to protect their home from the new threat, and Lance sighs again as he's left where he is, tied to a chair with nobody to talk to and nothing to look at. How _boring_ , and what a waste of his talents.


	5. Vanishing Act

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Don't bite the hand that tries to warn you about your intergalactic enemies...you may find that said hand no longer wants to help.

Lance stays where he is obediently for all of twenty minutes. Then he gets too bored to bother being nice, shimmying his way out of the chair he's on despite the fact that he's tied to it, and then unlocking and discarding the handcuffs. He wants to know what's going on with the Paladins and their Castle, plus he's never been one to sit by idly while fun stuff is going on. Parties? He'd never miss ‘em for the world. Fights? Same deal. Bets and stupid dares? Oh _hell_ yeah. Lance likes to think he's well-rounded, with how many different things he's tried. Speaking of fun things to do…Lance breaks his way out of the hut he's in, chuckling a little as he eases the window open - amused both at how easy it is to escape, and at how this situation is the opposite of what he was doing earlier. It's amusing to him to think about comparisons like that. There are so many of them in his life…most of them are unfortunate, though. Lance brushes those thoughts away for now, glad that he hid his weapons elsewhere before he visited the Paladins. Otherwise, he'd surely have nothing to fight with right now. But he had foresight, and a healthy bit of caution, so now he can go fetch his weapons and join whatever fight is happening at the Castle. He hopes it isn't in space or something, since he'll be a little screwed if that's the case.

Turns out, it isn’t hard at all to find the fight, which has moved to the ground, and is currently lit up quite noticeably with laser fire, explosions, and the sounds of battle. Screams, more explosions, gunfire, the works. _Perfect_ . Lance is as sneaky as he can be, skirting around the edge of the battle, hiding behind houses and shrubbery, making his way behind enemy lines slowly but surely. It looks like the Paladins are holding their own, but they aren’t making any progress, which isn’t such a good thing. Against the endless onslaught of Galran footsoldiers and robots, they’re eventually going to get tired, and when they start to lag behind, they’ll be decimated. So Lance gets to work picking off Galra from behind, sneaking around more and using the trees and rooftops to his advantage as he uses his rifle to snipe Galra, and occasionally leaps down to use a dagger in order to keep the death a little quieter. He’s counting on the Paladins who are still in their Lions to take care of the ships above, letting them focus on their own battles as he fights this one here on the ground. Eventually, he ends up face-to-face with the yellow Paladin, giving him a quick, jaunty salute, and then diving away to fight against another Galra. The Paladin looks dumbfounded, and he starts yelling, but a nearby explosion makes it impossible for Lance to hear him. So Lance ignores him, and instead finishes up his battle so he can leave the Paladins to do their thing, and go see if any of this planet’s native occupants need a hand. There are definitely a few in need of saving that the Paladins haven’t gotten to yet, so Lance helps out those ones, ignoring the distrustful, fearful stares he gets from some of them. He’s used to getting bad reactions from people, and this is a rather _tame_ reaction in comparison to some others he’s had, so he isn’t all that fazed by it. By the time Lance has finished helping the locals get to a safer spot, occasionally stopping to take out more Galra who try to get at them, the Paladins have taken care of the large ships above, and begun wiping out the last of the surviving Galra in this fleet. Lance watches them fight the last few, sniping just a couple Galra since those ones were sneaking up on the Paladins. Then he waits with bated breath for the Paladins to stop being so busy. And of course, just as he expected, once the Galra are no longer an issue, and the locals have been appeased, the ‘Defenders of the Universe’ turn on Lance, the Altean princess pointing an accusatory finger at him and shouting questions that he tries his best to answer without interrupting her or being rude. He doesn’t make much progress, though, and he’s thoroughly fed up with being treated like some common criminal by the time the Green Paladin moves to wrap him up in her grappling-hook style bayard. He dodges it, leaping up and out of the way of the glowing green coils, rolling away across the dirt before springing to his feet again and glaring at the Paladins.

“Okay, I’m done with this now. I’ve been _trying_ to tell you all that you’re in danger, and I’m _trying_ to help you out, but if none of you will listen, I’m just going to leave. I could help you _plenty_ , but you’ve been nothing but rude, so you’ve just forfeited my aid.” He glowers at them, and then dashes away, hearing the Paladins shout after him and take chase. He’s sly and slippery though, well-versed in the art of escaping, and he finds it easy to evade the inexperienced group. While they search through buildings and look for him everywhere, Lance sneaks back the way he came. He finds a Galra ship that isn’t too badly damaged, tossing his weapons into the passenger seat and then seating himself in the pilot’s chair. He fires the ship up, and takes off with only a little difficulty, waving goodbye to the Paladins with a cocky smirk, watching them get smaller and smaller on the planet’s surface. He still isn’t going to assassinate them, but if they won’t even let him explain himself, he’s not going to bother doing so. They can figure their alliances out on their own, but Lance won’t tolerate anything less than respect towards himself.

.oOo. 

Lance sighs and relaxes deeper into his bubble bath, sinking almost fully into the mountains of foam and enjoying the silky feeling of the hot, wonderfully-scented water on his skin. He’s used a bunch of different soaps and oils in this bath, probably too many if he’s being honest, but they feel and smell great, and Lance thinks he deserves some pampering after today. He’s got a face mask on too, feeling calm and content surrounded by his expensive luxury products, and his highly secure house. He’d crash-landed his stolen ship a while ago, just barely managing to push it far enough to make it to a planet where he’s got a safe house. That ship has been abandoned now, left somewhere off to the East of his safehouse to fall apart and rust. Lance walked back home from the crash site, and once he got there, he immediately locked everything up, and ran himself a bath. He should probably be communicating with the alien who hired him to kill the Paladins, but...that can wait. Lance’s own well-being comes first, and after such an awful time travelling and getting interrogated by snobby universe-defenders, he needs a bath and some thorough TLC.

Lance soaks in that tub for a good while, only stopping when the bubbles have dissolved into murky water, and the oils have started to feel slimy against his skin. Then he gets up, and rinses everything off, feeling much more refreshed once he’s all lotioned up and clean. Only once he’s dressed in his fluffy white bathrobe and slippers does he decide to communicate with his employers. He calls them, not using a video call because he does _not_ look professional right now. Lance manages to weave a convincing lie for them, spinning his tale and getting off scot-free for not killing the Paladins today like he was supposed to. Then he ends the call, slumping back into his chair with relief. He looks around this small house, scanning the familiar furnishings and judging how much he’s attached to it. He’s not that attached, so he gets up, and packs all his things.

The next morning, he takes what he wants, sells the house, and uses that money to buy himself a proper ship. He can stop hitchhiking now, he can sell his other safe houses too...and then he can live out of this shuttle. It will be far more discreet than houses, and he can follow those Paladins around, too. Keep up the ruse, evade his employers for a while, and hopefully disappear off the grid with the money he’s earned so far. He still won’t kill the Paladins of Voltron...so instead, he’s got to disappear. It’s either their lives, or his, and he’ll likely die in the backlash if he kills them, anyways...so in the interest of saving his own skin, Lance’s only option now is to vanish.


	6. Here We Go Again

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Keith has a boring week...at least until a familiar - and unwanted - face shows up again.

Keith is one hundred percent, completely and utterly, totally sure that no one is taking this seriously enough. It’s been two days total since their second run-in with the mysterious assassin that tried to kill him and Shiro, and already, Pidge and Matt have started making fun of the situation. They’re making jokes about the assassin, even though _he’s still out there_ , and it is _far too likely_ that he’ll try to strike again. Sure, he _said_ he was trying to help, but that was just a ruse for sure, meant to get the Paladins to trust him so he could murder them without issue. Keith doesn’t believe a word of that, and he’s still on edge too, even more jumpy and defensive than usual, and Pidge and Matt are enjoying themselves making fun of Keith’s current state. They keep scaring him, and dismissing his concerns when he brings up the assassin, slowly convincing everyone else - even pragmatic, anxious Hunk - that everything is fine, and that assassin thing was a one-off occurrence. No way that guy can show up again, they left the planet in a stolen ship, and the Paladins left in the castleship. They won’t be found again, and the assassin dude couldn’t get on board anyways. Keith hates that no one is taking this seriously, but the final straw comes when he voices his concerns to Shiro, and earns a dismissive, condescending pat on the shoulder for it.  
“Don’t worry about that, Keith.” he says. “It’s over now, we’re safe on this ship, and we can look after ourselves even if he _can_ find us again.” Keith bristles, glaring at Shiro and then storming off, taking his frustrations out on a robot in the training room. When he finishes, he’s determined to find out what he can about this assassin. He seeks out the Altean library, well aware that it’s out-of-date, but hoping that it will have something about assassins anyways. Maybe a guild of them, maybe common practices that Keith could defend against, maybe training that Keith can brush up on in order to fight back at the assassin’s level…

Alas, Keith finds nothing. He ends up even more frustrated than before, lying in his bed and fidgeting restlessly as he tries to think of ways to convince everyone to take this more seriously, to find the assassin and take him out first, to do _anything_ to get rid of the threat hanging over his and his teammates’ heads. No viable ideas come, though, and Keith falls asleep on top of his covers with all sorts of impossible plans swirling around in his mind.

He has dreams all night about fighting faceless, impossibly fast enemies, and then wakes up just as restless and unsatisfied as the night before.

.oOo. 

    The next day, Keith is awoken by Allura’s announcement calling for everyone to come to the training room and practice. He scrambles out of bed blearily, tugging on his armour with shaky, sleep-weakened hands, nearly putting his boots on the wrong feet. He manages to still be on time, though, arriving to the training room not long before Matt does. Allura explains the training exercise, and Keith does his best to stumble through it without messing up. He’s groggy and unprepared, but as he wakes up, training gets steadily easier, and by the end of it, he feels a little better about yesterday’s worries. He’s still on edge, of course, but training does always work as a great stress reliever. He goes back to the library to keep researching once training is over, seeing if maybe he missed something while sleepy and disoriented late last night. But after three hours, he still hasn’t found a thing, and he gives up on that. He leaves to find Shiro instead, wanting to see if he can help with anything at all. Shiro and Allura are busy discussing alliances and trackers though, so Keith has to find something else to do. And since Matt is in the training room touching up on his fighting skills, and Keith doesn’t really feel like dealing with the rambunctious Holt sibling, Keith can’t even go back to his failsafe. He ends up wandering, stumbling upon what seems to be an old greenhouse at the top of one of the castle’s spires. It’s full of flower beds and gardening equipment, though the soil is barren, and everything is covered in a thick, greasy layer of dust. It seems like Coran hasn’t gotten here yet with all his obsessive cleaning, so while the huge, domed glass ceiling is impressive, it’s nearly impossible to see through. Not to say Keith doesn’t try - he _does_ , quite stubbornly. And maybe if he’d been able to see up through that murky glass a little better, he would have spotted a suspicious ship hanging out in the many cameras’ blind spot, scanning the castleship and biding its time. As it is, Keith leaves after a while, resigning himself to doing menial tasks for Pidge just to entertain himself, while she builds whatever fancy new machine she’s working on now. That little gremlin is rarely ever not busy with something or other to do with technology. At least _she’s_ liking the Altean tech...Keith still can’t make heads nor tails of the weird, ancient Altean language that everything uses and is programmed in. (He can’t even switch it to English! The stupid things won’t translate, and he has no clue what buttons he’s pressing! Pidge is probably just magic, or gifted by the gods or something...there’s no other explanation as to how she can use this stuff so well.)

.oOo. 

    Keith’s pattern of boredom continues over the next couple days. Sure, they stop at a couple planets, and make some treaties and alliances, but Keith doesn’t find that stuff interesting. There aren’t any battles, no challenging moments at all (aside from the communicating with aliens, and being civilized), and training and mission planning seem to be his only escapes. For all the rest of his time, though...he ends up trying to garden in that huge greenhouse, though he has dismal luck with it. He keeps going because Shiro thinks it would be a ‘great hobby to pick up’, and a ‘wonderful way to tame his anger issues’, but most of the seeds stockpiled there are rotten, and those that are viable, Keith just can’t nurture properly. He’s got the exact opposite of a green thumb, apparently, and as much careful attention as he pays the seedlings, he can’t get them to progress much further than tiny green shoots. So he soon gives up on that, too, and tries to learn cooking from Hunk instead when Shiro urges him to keep trying new hobbies instead of going back to fighting droids.

He gets kicked out of the kitchen within a day, after setting a pot of water on fire somehow, and then setting off the emergency sprinklers, and then accidentally adding pepper to a pudding that he could _swear_ was actually soup just a moment ago. How was he supposed to tell?! Everything is in identical metal pots, and it’s all green goop!

After a while, Keith sets to cleaning the greenhouse himself, since he may as well be useful, and Coran enlisted him to help clean when he caught wind of Keith being bored. So Keith borrows Coran’s ridiculous suction-cup-covered window-cleaning getup, and starts clambering up both sides of the windowed dome, scrubbing the accumulated filth away pane by painstaking pane. He notices some odd, out-of-place tracks and scratches on some of the glass panels, but he dismisses those, assuming that he just never noticed them before. By the time he’s finished that monumental task, it’s been a couple weeks, and he actually feels a lot stronger for having scrubbed so many windows, and climbed so much. It’s actually been a decent substitute for training, and now that a couple weeks have passed without any incidents or signs of an assassin, Keith is relaxing a little bit. He’s no longer hiding so many weapons around his room, or sleeping so very lightly in case something happens, which is a relief for him _and_ his team, because they were all getting a little tired of his extreme jumpiness and defensiveness.

But while relaxing a bit and letting his walls down helped Keith and his eam relax...it also left all of them woefully unprepared when something awful really _did_ happen.

.oOo. 

    Keith wakes up with a jolt in the middle of the night, unsure what exactly woke him, but immediately feeling on edge. He _never_ wakes up for no reason at all...there must have been a noise or something that roused him from his typically light sleep. Keith sits up, scanning his room and finding nothing out of the ordinary. He hears something from down the hall, something rather out of place. If it was Pidge sneaking back to her room after a late night in her lab, she wouldn’t be trying to hide it - she never has. But those were footsteps, quiet and sneaky, slinking nearly-silently towards the Paladins’ rooms. Keith is immediately on guard, slipping his hand under his pillow to retrieve his trusty purple dagger, before slipping out into the hallway to investigate. He comes face to face with the perpetrator of those sounds, freezing and then snarling an accusatory,

 _“You.”_ A familiar slim figure, with a shock of white hair and a mask over ten lower half of his face, as well as two high-heeled boots held in one hand, tenses up and turns slowly towards him, caught red-handed.

“Ohh...heyyy...buddy...wasn’t expecting anyone to wake up…” the assassin whispers, glancing around nervously. “Look, I know this looks bad, and I know I said I wasn’t gonna come near you guys anymore, but I _really_ need to warn you, _without_ being caught by the actual bad guys.” He opens his mouth to keep speaking, but Keith interrupts him, abruptly dashing forwards and pressing a sharp blade to his throat. The assassin swallows nervously, and Keith growls that he doesn’t _care_ what excuses he’s feeding him now, he is going to _die_ for endangering Keith’s teammates again. The assassin shakes his head vehemently, taking a chance and quietly blurting out a rather frantic, “Nonono! I _swear_ , I’m here to help! I didn’t finish my job properly, so the guy who hired me sent other assassins to take you guys out! They’ve been watching you all week, and they’re making their move soon! I’m supposed to be helping, but I snuck in here instead to warn you! You guys need to prepare, seriously!” Keith nearly dismisses the assassin and slits his throat then and there, but he never gets the chance. Instead, he’s thrown to the ground violently as a gunshot whizzes by his head, narrowly missing him because the _assassin_ shoves him out of the way. The assassin lands on top of Keith, yelping a worried ‘quiznak’ and then darting away to fight the new assassin who’s shown up at the end of the hallway. The new assassin curses at the apparently friendly one, attacking him readily and yelling something about traitors. Keith picks himself up off the ground, only to hear the first assassin yell at him to watch out. Keith whips around just in time to block an attack from a third assassin, and the first one pays for helping Keith, yelling as a bullet rips through his thigh and sends him crashing to the ground. The second one hisses a venomous ‘goodbye, _Lance_ ’ and leaves him for dead, bleeding out on the floor. Lance manages to pound on the door he’s beside, finishing the job of rousing all the nearby Paladins from their slumbers, if all the yelling and gunfire hadn’t already done so. He watches as the Paladins emerge from their rooms and join the fight, nodding in relief as they gain the upper hand over his fellow assassins. But his hands, pressed to his thigh desperately, aren’t doing a very good job of keeping his blood inside of him, and before he can see the outcome of the battle, the blood loss he’s experiencing becomes too great to bear, and his vision goes black.


	7. A Conflict of Interests

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sowing the seeds of dissent amongst the Paladins...and rescuing a former 'enemy'.

Hunk is the first to notice that one of the assassins on the ground after the battle isn't actually dead. He points out the rather pale, familiar-looking one, asking Shiro what they should do with him. Shiro debates the matter for a few moments, Pidge urging him to just finish the assassin off, and then decides that they should bring him to a healing pod. He defends his choice by saying that if they capture him, he may be able to give them information on who hired him, and perhaps they could even get a ransom out of him. There are still some protests from the others, but Shiro overrules them and enlists Hunk's help in carrying the unconscious body to the medbay. Allura joins them there, curious to see what this mysterious nuisance will look like with his mask off. It's a shock when Shiro peels it off, and the assassin looks… _ human. _ Completely human, no weird teeth or markings or anything. Just the off-white hair is different from normal human hair, and that could easily be dye, or side effects of something like Shiro’s white tuft. Shiro wants to gawk more and join everyone else in their energetic discussion about how the hell a human is out here being an intergalactic hitman, but he needs to make sure this supposed human doesn't die, so he quickly gets him into the pod, hefting his limp form into the  machine and starting it up. The glass cover fades into view, and the Altean machine begins its work patching up its current occupant. Allura takes a look at the scans the pod is doing as it heals the assassin, frowning at some of the readings and making the pod do some tests on the assassin’s blood. Once those have started, she leaves, bringing the rest of the Paladins with her so they can all check over the castle and be sure that no other potential attackers are hidden anywhere. They also need to look around to see where the assassins got in, since those areas clearly need to be more well-defended. Only Coran stays in the medbay, keeping a close eye on both the pod and the prisoner inside. It will be a rather long wait until he's released from the machine, but Coran will be waiting with a pair of handcuffs at the ready when he is. 

.oOo.

The first thing. Lance registers after passing out on the floor is vertigo. There's the feeling of falling, but his limbs are heavy and unresponsive, and he can't see anything. He's cold, skin tingling faintly as it's rewarmed, the feeling of someone holding him upright registering belatedly in his mind. Lance feels sluggish, but he manages to open his eyes and mumble some sort of a confused question. His dazed mood suddenly vanishes with a click, and the realization that handcuffs have just been clasped around his wrists. Lance jolts backwards, eyes flying open wide, adrenaline coursing through him as he desperately attempts to escape whoever is capturing him. But a strong hand on his arm keeps him still, and a kind but stern voice tells him to calm down. 

“The cuffs are just a precaution, my boy. We don't plan to hurt you. We wouldn't have healed you, had we wanted you hurt.” Lance processes those words slowly, staring at the moustached Altean in front of him. Sure enough, when he looks down at his leg, it's fully healed, though there's still dried blood all over it as proof that it was, at one point, damaged. 

“Wh…how? How is this possible?” he mumbles, earning a chuckle from the Altean. 

“Altean technology can do some amazing things, even if it is rather outdated. Though, I'm sure you already know that. You've met the Voltron Lions before, after all.” Lance says nothing more, wary of accidentally saying too much as he's led away to wherever the Paladins are imprisoning him now. The orange-haired Altean talks enough for the both of them though, chatting about something Lance isn't listening to, taking him through a maze of hallways to a small cell a few floors below. It has a small cot in one corner, and a little door that Lance is fairly sure leads to a bathroom. He's pushed inside, and a particle barrier goes up between him and the Altean, shimmering pale blue. 

“Well, I'm sure you'll get a visit from the Paladins soon, but get comfortable while you're waiting. I'm sure you're able to get out of those cuffs easily enough on your own, so I'll leave you to it.” Then Lance is left alone in the cell, left to his own devices under the watchful eye of a camera just outside the barrier keeping him in. 

The first thing Lance does is, predictably, get out of the handcuffs holding his wrists together in front of him. He manages to get his thumbs out of the cuffs, grimacing as they're bent nearly too far, sighing in relief when he slips out of the cuffs and rubs his hands together to soothe their aching a bit. He tosses the cuffs aside and starts looking for a way out of the cell, examining the edges of the barrier and searching every inch of the small room for any sort of tool to use. He's been divested of all his own weapons and tools, of course, so he needs to be crafty here. But after at least twenty minutes of searching, and plenty of attempts at making the barrier break, Lance comes up blank. He's got nothing, so he sits on the hard cot and sighs, running a hand through his hair and contemplating just how dead he's going to be no matter what he does. If he escapes, he'll surely be tracked down by both the Paladins, and his old employers, since he's sure they've already heard that he's a traitor and he's in the castle of Lions. If he stays, there's a pretty small chance that he'll ever be set free, or left alive once they're done with him. He'll either be stuck here to rot, killed, sold out to his employers for a ransom (and then killed), or set free to be hunted down and killed. In any case, Lance doesn't have high hopes for himself. So Lance slumps back against the wall hopelessly, and waits for the verdict, whatever that ends up being. 

.oOo.

The first thing Coran did after leaving the prisoner in his cell was to go check on the cameras, and make sure everything was working alright. He watched as the assassin tried his very best to escape, and nodded when he finally gave up. Then, Coran went to the medbay to see what the tests and scans done by the pod discovered. He looks over the results, frowning softly and printing out a copy of the readings. That, he takes to Allura, needing to talk to her about he's found. He tracks her down, and shows her the paper, quietly discussing the results. She's shocked, gawking at the paper and insisting that the scans must be faulty, stubbornly refusing to believe anything she's seeing. There's no  _ way  _ the assassin that was trying to kill them is actually an Altean, she  _ will not  _ accept that a member of her noble race would stoop so low as to kill for money. Besides, he clearly didn't have the Altean markings he should if he's Altean, so perhaps the pod just made some mistakes. Coran just shakes his head, knowing better than that - he checked the pod and all of its functions himself, he  _ knows  _ that it's in perfect working order…and he may need to pay this assassin a solo visit just to see what information he can get. 


	8. An Immovable Object

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lance is as stubborn as a rock, and as cold as ice towards the Paladins. An unexpected act of kindness might just be able to melt him, though...

The Paladins discover very quickly that their new prisoner is as stubborn as a mule when he wants to be. They ask hundreds of questions,  _ demand _ hundreds of answers, and do their best to bribe or coerce the assassin to give up his secrets and tell them what they want to know. But the prisoner keeps his mouth firmly shut, determined to spite the paladins, and make them offer him more than just food and water in exchange for his secrets. He hasn’t eaten in a couple days now, too stubborn to answer questions, and therefore getting no reward from them. They’ve been depriving him of water as well, but Lance doesn’t care about that, since there’s a  _ sink  _ in the bathroom that he’s been drinking out of. The stupid Paladins apparently haven’t thought of that yet, since they keep offering him water in exchange for whatever answers they’re hounding after now. Lance has even heard the red and green Paladins suggesting ‘better persuasion tactics’, which Lance knows actually means ‘torture’, because he’s been through this song and dance before, and for some reason, no one ever actually says ‘torture’ aloud. It’s like they want to keep believing that they’re the good guys, and saying that word will suddenly change theirs status. Lance doesn’t mind either way - he doesn’t consider himself either good, or bad, or neutral. He’s whatever people see him as, because he toes a very gray line, being in a line of work such as he is. He knows better than to think of himself as a good person, and he knows better than to start believing that his own job is inherently bad. In any case, the Paladins clearly think he’s bad, and while currently, the vote amongst the six of them is four to two in his favour, Lance can tell that the princess is beginning to be swayed, and the Black Paladin is starting to run out of better ideas as well. Still, Lance says nothing, remaining tight-lipped and stoic despite the hunger pangs and cramps that worsen whenever he straightens his back up and keeps his composure in front of the Paladins. He’s not a snitch, and he’s not just going to spill his secrets to a bunch of strangers, not even if he was trying to help them before, not even if they saved him from dying for some reason. (Mostly, Lance is just being stubborn for the sake of it.  He can feed himself excuses all he wants, but the truth is that he’s decided he doesn’t especially like these Paladins, and he isn’t going to help them unless he gets something in return. He’s holding a mighty grudge, and they’re going to need to step up their game if they want a single thing from him.)

That outlook gets a great big rewrite when the Paladins actually  _ do _ change their tactics, just...not in the way he’d expected. Instead of them bringing out the torture devices and forcing him to talk, they send down the Yellow Paladin all on his own, and said Paladin sits down against the wall opposite lance’s cell - and  _ chats with him. _ It’s a very one-sided conversation, but the Paladin carries it on by himself nonetheless, oblivious to Lance’s shocked stare as he rambles on and complains about technology and the ship he’s currently trying to modify alongside someone named ‘Pidge’. Eventually, despite never asking a single question, and never getting a peep out of Lance, the Yellow Paladin - who has introduced himself as ‘Hunk’ - gets up, and bids Lance farewell with a smile. Then he leaves, and Lance is left alone again, completely bewildered as he sits on his bunk and tries to comprehend what the hell that was about. None of the other Paladins come see him that day.

The Yellow Paladin comes back the next day, bringing with him a plate of steaming, orange goop that smells  _ delicious   _ despite its unappetizing look and texture. Lance definitely drools a little, trying not to look at the food too much as Hunk sets it down on the floor in front of him and says hello, asking him how he’s doing. That question is so ridiculous that Lance can’t help but laugh, barking out an incredulous giggle and staring at the Paladin like he’s crazy.

“You’re asking me how I’m doing?! I’m trapped in a tiny, uncomfortable cell waiting to be either tortured or killed, and I haven’t had food in three days! How do you  _ think _ I’m doing?!” Hunk has the nerve to look  _ guilty _ about that, and he mumbles that he’s sorry for the lack of food, before sliding the plate of steaming goo forwards through the barrier holding Lance inside his cell. Lance stares at the plate, then at Hunk, not at all trusting this. It  _ has  _ to be poisoned or spiked with something, there’s no  _ way _ he’s just being given food spontaneously. Lance pushes the plate away with his foot, scowling and shoving it back through the barrier. “Nuh-uh. You’re not tricking me that easily. What’s the catch?” Hunk just shrugs.

“There’s no catch, I just knew you’d be starving, and I thought I’d bring you something. No point in letting you die, right? We’re all still curious about a lot of stuff.” Lance just glares at the Paladin, and Hunk grimaces. “Ooookay, so I assume you’re not gonna eat this unless I prove it’s fine. Here, how about this: You answer me two questions of my choosing, and I’ll taste this goo to show you it’s fine, and then give it to you so you can eat it. Deal?” Lance hesitates, very torn about this, but also  _ very  _ hungry, and that food smells  _ really _ good. Eventually, he nods slowly, sitting on the floor so he’s on the same level as Hunk. 

“Sure. Ask your questions, then.” he says tersely, and Hunk nods, looking pleased. He thinks hard for a bit, and then nods as he comes up with his question.

“Alright, here we go. Who hired you to kill us?” Lance’s eyes widen, heart dropping in dismay. Oh no, he can’t answer this. He’ll be  _ so _ dead if he answers this. But...well, he supposes he’s already dead either way, so…

“King Flammes. From the volcanic planet you visited a little while ago.” Hunk looks shocked by that news, but he just nods, following up with a curious,

“Okay, and...why exactly  _ didn’t _ you kill us, or let us die? You had plenty of chances, and you wouldn’t be in this predicament if you’d just gotten rid of us, so…” Lance sighs.

“I didn’t kill you because I’m not stupid. You’re the defenders of the universe, everyone’s only hope against the Galra. I’m an enemy of the Empire as well, just like...mostly everyone, so it’d be stupid of me to off you all. Besides, I’d lose some very important contacts if I followed through with my contract. It was just the sensible thing to do, to let you all live.” Hunk nods again, and then scoops a bite out of the very middle of the pile of goo, eating it without any fanfare or unease. He slides the plate through the barrier and back to Lance, who stares long and hard and Hunk - and then digs into the  food ravenously. Hunk smiles at that, thanking Lance for his answers and getting up to go back upstairs to the rest of his team. Lance finishes the food and sighs in relief, pushing the plate aside before lying down on his bunk and wondering if this Hunk could be his ticket out of here.


	9. A Complicated Sort of Friendship

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hunk and Lance get to know each other a little better. Hunk also recruits someone else to chat with Lance, too. There's some angst...and some fluff...and a helluva cliffhanger.

Hunk keeps visiting Lance, whether on his own or with the rest of the team, and Lance notices a pattern. When with the other Paladins, Hunk is quiet and reserved, staying at the back of the group and looking almost apologetic while the rest of them grill Lance for answers. But when Hunk comes on his own, he typically brings food for Lance - and one time, an Altean children's toy for Lance to occupy himself with without being able to escape - and he's a lot more talkative and kind. Lance grows to enjoy their chats, starting to look forward to them even, and Hunk is like clockwork every day - until one day, he isn't. He apparently sends the Green Paladin down in his stead, though, because the small human trudges apprehensively down the hall and then sits down by the wall, cross-legged and distinctly icy towards Lance. Lance says nothing to her, eyeing her warily and fidgeting with the little toy in his hand, absentmindedly undoing and redoing all the little puzzles on it over and over. Eventually, the Green Paladin speaks, clearing her throat and muttering, 

“So, uh…my name's Pidge. Hunk's busy, but he said you like company. I don't believe him, since I've seen no proof of that at all as of yet, but…here I am, I guess.” She sounds defensive and not too friendly, but Lance decides to give Hunk the benefit of the doubt (And  _ damn _ , when did he get so attached to the big guy?! They're not friends, he needs to remember that!). If Hunk trusts Pidge enough to send her down, maybe she isn't so bad. So Lance clears his throat, moving to sit on the floor across from the Paladin. 

“I'm Lance. Though I assume you've been told that.” Pidge looks surprised that Lance actually moved and talked, but then she nods. 

“Yeah, I heard. What, uh. What exactly do you and Hunk talk about down here?” Lance shrugs. 

“Mostly, he talks at me, and I just listen. He likes to complain about technology - and about his frustrating teammates.” Lance smirks as Pidge bristles, scoffing and muttering that of  _ course _ Hunk would be gossiping with the prisoner. Then she gets a sly sparkle in her eyes (that Lance isn't sure whether he should like or dislike), and she leans forwards. 

“You want some  _ good _ gossip? How about this: Hunk found a plushie lion on one of the planets we've visited, and now he cuddles with it while he sleeps.” Lance snorts, deciding that he  _ likes  _ that sassy sparkle in this Paladin's eyes. Lance chuckles and shakes his head, Pidge seeming both proud that she's outed Hunk, as well as wary of Lance and his laughter. Lance looks at the Paladin searchingly, a wry smirk on his lips. 

“You like gossip just as much as Hunk does, you hypocrite.” he remarks, and she hesitates, starting to refuse and defend herself, before hesitating again and sighing in defeat. She definitely does, but she will neither confirm nor deny that accusation. Lance examines this Paladin some more, taking in how young she looks, even younger than Hunk. He'd be shocked and dismayed that such young humans are Paladins, but…he's seen younger people fighting quite capably in their own wars, in back alleys, in their own homes, or in larger rebellions alongside other insurgents. He himself used to be one of those young warriors, though it’s been a while since then, and he no longer considers himself a child. To others, he may be because of his relatively young age, but in his own eyes, he’s been through enough to erase his childlike innocence and naïvete, and he’s matured well beyond his actual age. These Paladins will surely do that as well eventually, but the war hasn’t changed them all that much yet. Lance listens as Pidge starts telling him about the ame project Hunk has been complaining about for the past few days, not stopping her or telling her that he already knows all this stuff. If Pidge wants to talk to him about her problems, then Lance is bored and lonely enough to listen, whether or not he’s already heard it. Plus, making friends with the Paladins will let him escape sooner, so he can leave and go into hiding...or, that’s at least what he tells himself. The truth may not be that simple, though. As much as Lance may want to deny it…the two Paladins who have bothered to talk with him are growing on him. They're no longer as foreign to him as they were before, more friendly and relatable now that they've introduced themselves. And Lance, damn his soft and affection-starved heart, is finding it harder and harder to be objective. If it came down to it, and it was either his life or theirs…he wouldn't hesitate to give his life, and not just because the Paladins are so important to the future of the universe. Lance finds his opinions changing, and his determination wavering, and he…he doesn't like it. He's always been so sure of what to do and what to think, all black-and-white with no in-betweens…so now, faced with the ones he was supposed to kill, the ones he was going to abandon to save his own skin, and the realization that they could  _ use _ his help since they're so young and clearly inexperienced, he can't help but hesitate. Is befriending them the right choice? Will they  _ all  _ be in more danger if a wanted assassin joins up with the Paladins of Voltron? And would they even accept his offer if he suggested it…? Lance is greatly torn, and he's almost relieved when no one comes to talk to him the next day. He needs some time to think and figure out what he's going to do. 

.oOo.

Lance gets a bit of a kick in the backside a few days later, his time here getting the sudden deadline of just a few days when he's informed by the Altean princess that King Flammes has contacted them. Apparently, he's offering a civil peace treaty and an apology for his actions, in exchange for Lance. And apparently, this foolish princess is actually  _ considering accepting the deal.  _ Lance's blood runs cold when he hears that, his eyes wide with horror. He can't even get words out, not that he knows what he'd say if he could. Would he beg her to reconsider and save his life? Hell no. Could he convince her to change her mind? Unlikely. She leaves, and Lance is left alone until Hunk and Pidge visit him together. They've heard the news too, and to his relief, they also think it's a terrible idea to trust King Flammes. He doesn't try to stop himself when he finds himself blurting out all his thoughts to them, explaining what he can and talking more than they've ever heard him talk before. He explains that he  _ would  _ have killed that king instead of accepting his offer to kill the Paladins, except the king was incredibly well-guarded, and even trying would have resulted in failure and death. Refusing the deal would have spelled death as well, and Lance would never have gotten the opportunity to warn and help the Paladins. And if Lance is given to King Flammes, he will  _ definitely  _ be killed slowly and painfully for his insubordination, and probably made into an example as well. Lance doesn't want to die, even though he knows very well that that's a huge risk in his line of work. He just - he just wants to help the Paladins now, if they'll let him. No more assassinations, no more lying and sneaking around. If they'll have him, and joining them will protect him from the many people after him…he'd do anything for the Paladins. Pidge and Hunk listen intently, and exchange significant looks when Lance stops talking, looking flustered and frightened as he runs a hand through his messy hair and fiddles distractedly with the toy he was given to occupy his ever-moving hands. The two Paladins get up, assuring Lance that they'll do what they can to sway Allura - but whatever terms they propose in order to save him from King Flammes, he  _ has  _ to accept. They don't know if Allura will let him stay if he's difficult in any way. Lance wilts, but nods in agreement with that statement, trying not to look  _ too  _ pathetic despite how small and weak he feels in the face of such a monumental issue. He can only hope that his two newest ‘friends’ can persuade the princess to let him live…

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry, not sorry. ;) I love me some good cliffhangers, and this was too good of an opportunity to pass up. In any case, I hope you enjoyed the chapter! If I ever get the time between school and...more school, I'm gonna finish up a drawing I did of Lance in his assassin outfit, so here's hoping I can find some free time and motivation on the weekend!


	10. A Fatal Decision

The three days left to make the decision pass too quickly, and the updates Lance receives each day are dismal. Pidge and Hunk can't convince the stubborn princess of Lance's possible usefulness, and she stays set on making the trade with King Flammes. Pidge and Hunk have no luck swaying the Black and Red Paladins either, though the Blue one - who looks  _ uncannily  _ like Pidge and is named ‘Matt’ - believes his sister, and comes to visit Lance as he sits miserably in his cell. He doesn't think he has much of a chance of surviving this trade, no matter what he does, and his mortality is looming awfully close since a certain Altean is too stubborn and proud to admit that she's made the wrong decision. Finally, the day arrives, and Lance doesn't bother fighting it when the Black Paladin comes to handcuff him and bring him up to the princess. The Paladins are assembled beside her in front of the castle, waiting for the king to arrive. Pidge won't meet Lance's gaze, and Hunk looks guilty and apologetic, while Matt just looks resigned and a little angry. Lance is flattered that they care so much, and grateful that they at least tried to help him. Still, he grimaces when he's handed over to the king, a bony hand locking around his upper arm and holding him bruisingly tight, heart sinking in his chest as the reality of this hits him. He's being given to the king, and he's surely going to be killed for his disobedience - and the money he technically stole. He keeps his head up and back straight, refusing to be weak now, eyes flicking accusingly between the princess, and the Red and Black Paladins. He doesn't dignify the king with a reply when he sneers taunts at him, and the next thing he knows, there's a hard blow to his cheek, and then another to his stomach, and he lands on his knees with the breath knocked out of him. Cheek stinging and surely bruised, Lance coughs and catches his breath from the floor, arms twisted uncomfortably behind him. Still, he says nothing, and he stumbles to his feet and follows the king out, being half-dragged by his guards. He spares one more glance for Hunk and Pidge, smiling a little bit at them before he's dragged out of sight. Hunk looks stricken, and Pidge still isn't looking at him. 

.oOo.

Lance is tossed unceremoniously into a cell, the guards promising him that he'll be ‘dealt with’ tomorrow. He slumps against a wall with a sigh, arms still pulled behind him uncomfortably. The king pays him a visit after a few long, boring hours, leering at him and teasing him, riling Lance up and making a point of touching his face - the exact thing Lance had hated so much before, even when he'd had his mask on. The king peels off the specially made skin-tone stickers Lance has on his cheeks, exposing the blue markings on each cheekbone. 

“What a pretty Altean…you'd have made such a good servant, it's too bad you're so untrustworthy.” he murmurs, feigning sadness. Lance glares at him, cursing him out and getting slapped across the face for his efforts. That's when the teasing turns into a harsh beating, and once the king has gotten all his anger out, Lance is left on the floor to spit up blood and try to ease the pressure on his broken and bruised ribs. 

.oOo.

Hunk is admittedly  _ very  _ apprehensive when he hears that the king has sent ‘proof’ that the assassin - Lance - is dead. He's still morbidly curious though, as well as very slightly hopeful that perhaps, there will be some hope that Lance can survive whatever has been done to him. Pidge manages to steal the video from Allura, and her, Hunk, and Matt hole up in Pidge's lab to watch it and see what's happened. The video starts with Lance, kneeling on the floor, looking awful. His face is bruised, nose bloody and lip split, and he's holding himself in a way that belies the pain beneath his stoic façade. What's shocking are the markings on his face, glowing blue triangles just below his eyes, proving that he's not human - he's Altean. Pidge wonders aloud if Allura regrets her decision now that she knows Lance was one of her kind. The king announces that the point of this video is to prove to the Paladins that their enemy is dead, by showing them the process. He brandishes a dagger, which Lance tracks with his eyes, staying silent and glaring balefully at the king. He can't stay silent when the king stabs him, though, the dagger plunging repeatedly into his stomach before being tugged out roughly and tossed aside. Lance lets out a choked scream with each stab, the sound petering out with a gurgling gasp as the dagger is pulled out one last time. Then he slumps to the side, looking shocked and agonized as he curls up weakly and struggles to breath. King Flammes wipes his hands on his robes and tells some guards to take Lance away, the Altean whimpering as he's dragged out of frame. The video ends there, and Hunk feels ill, while Pidge and Matt look shocked and dismayed. It's possible that Lance could have been faking everything to get on their side, but it really did seem like he was friendly whenever they visited, looking like he enjoyed the time spent chatting…Hunk was actually getting pretty attached to him. And now…well, that was an awful way to die, and it doesn't seem likely that Lance survived such a cruel attack. The amount of blood he'd been losing…the king would have had to get a medical team for him immediately if he had any chance of living through that. And  _ that  _ is  _ just  _ as unlikely as Lance surviving and escaping the king.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yo yo yo! I actually finished my drawing of the badass Altean assassin Lance for this fic! It's on my Instagram, here's the link:  
> (And hey, follow me if ya like my art? I'd really appreciate it. ;) )
> 
> https://www.instagram.com/p/BtuAJ6HA434/?utm_source=ig_share_sheet&igshid=1qjwesnx81qc7


	11. Revenant

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ***TW: Just in case - if you don't like rather descriptive gore, skip starting when Pidge goes to investigate the room, and come back after the next timeskip (.oOo.).

A couple days pass after everyone watches the disturbing video they received, and the Castle stays near King Flammes’ planet, as the ruler still wants to hash out the fine details of their treaty. He calls on the Paladins at the end of the second day, asking them to visit him in his own castle and figure things out so they can all come to a beneficial agreement. Pidge and Hunk are reluctant to go, Hunk being none to keen on going anywhere near the king, since the alien is clearly unstable. Pidge just hates the king, and she's holding a grudge against Allura as well. Pidge is of the opinion that Allura made the wrong choice in handing Lance over to the king,  _ especially  _ after what the king did to him. Pidge hasn't said anything to the princess, though, since the Altean is clearly already punishing herself for it. She obviously regrets her choice, though she hasn't said anything either. It's just clear to see in the sleepless bags under her eyes, the troubled looks plaguing her visage, and her many contemplative silences whenever there's a lull in the conversation. She's faded into the background and relinquished her authority for now, stuck in her head with her doubts as she lets Shiro lead the team on his own for once. Hunk seems to be suffering as well, though, which Pidge doesn't like. Hunk feels just as guilty as Allura, even though he did nothing except try to help the assassin he'd befriended. In any case, Hunk is dragging his feet on his way to visit the king, and Pidge is unsure if she should go near the bastard, because she might just end up punching him square in his ugly face. Honestly, she could punch Keith too, since Keith doesn't seem to give a shit that Allura literally sentenced someone to death. Keith just stands by the fact that the Altean was an assassin who killed people, and it drives Pidge mad ( _ They _ kill people too! This is war! And the assassin was actually  _ nice _ , not that Keith ever bothered to figure that out.). It's really too bad Pidge can't punch the king's teeth in without totally ruining this ill-gotten alliance and probably starting a war… 

.oOo.

Pidge spends a long time glaring at King Flammes’ door, in between trying to comfort Hunk, because the Paladins are told to wait for the king to invite them into his meeting room. And of course, the king takes  _ forever _ to do anything, even though  _ he's _ the one who scheduled this meeting. (It makes Pidge want to punch him even more.) Eventually, the king's son, who is a  _ much  _ more pleasant person to be around, tires of chatting awkwardly with the Paladins as they wait, and he excuses himself to go check on his father. He slips into the meeting room, the door clicking shut behind him, and spends a couple minutes inside before stumbling back out. He looks ill, pale as a sheet and quite shaky, and he tells them cordially that his father is unavailable to meet with them. 

“I…will gladly speak with you, though. Please come back tomorrow…I have lots of business to attend to now.” He hurries away, calling for his guards as he goes, muttering to them as he sweeps down the hallway. Pidge is extremely curious now, and she breaks away from the group to investigate. Allura calls after her, horrified, and Shiro tries to stop her, but Pidge evades his grasp and goes into the meeting room anyways. What she finds has her paling and feeling just as sick as the prince looked. King Flammes is lying on top of the meeting table, clearly quite dead. He's pale and still, eyes wide and unseeing, and his belly is slit from collarbone to navel, organs spilling out over the table. Pidge retches, and the rest of her team spill into the room to help her. Hunk cries out and leaves abruptly, babbling about eyeball bleach and retching. Allura gasps and covers her mouth, gawking at the corpse on the table and staring at all the blood soaking both the table and the carpet beneath it. Shiro looks frozen, eyes wide and mouth agape, while Keith is cautiously approaching the body so he can investigate. Pidge slowly joins him, verifying that the king is  _ very _ dead, and has been for a while. His body is cold, and all of his blood is on the floor rather than inside him, plus his heart is…well, it's missing, to be succinct. So Pidge is very sure that King Flammes has passed away. Allura eventually speaks up, barking at Keith and Pidge to get away from the corpse, and then ushering everyone out of the room. She makes them all leave in a hurry, offering her condolences briefly to the prince when they pass him on their way out. He tells her to come back tomorrow, and they can discuss the treaty once the king and all the hubbub is dealt with. Allura nods curtly, and then they leave, Shiro doing his best to keep Hunk calm. Keith is frowning, apparently more perturbed by the king's death than by the death of the Altean the king killed. Pidge feels a little less mad at him now…and she's no longer mad at the king either. Just smug, because karma definitely did its thing here. 

.oOo.

Allura makes everyone come to the control centre when they reach the Castle again. They all stay as a group and go there, but the quiet discussions they're all having stop dead when the doors open and they walk into the main room. 

There's someone sitting on the control panel, turning a small knife over in his hands. 

There's someone who  _ should be dead  _ staring right at them with cold blue eyes and a deadly glare, fiddling with a bloody knife. 

Then, there's a knife stuck in the door behind the Paladins, shivering from the impact, pinning a few of Allura’s hairs to the metal and shedding flakes of both Lance's and King Flammes’ blood. 

“Hello, princess.” Lance says slowly, voice sharp and frigid as he stares at the rather terrified-looking Altean. “Miss me?”


End file.
